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4B Daily News – Thursday, December 15, 2011 Court Round-Up The following defendants were sen- tenced in Tehama County Superior Court, according to the Tehama County District Attorney's Office: —————— Recent State Prison Commitments • Lukeus Nathan Coleman was sen- tenced to seven years and eight months in state prison for possession of stolen property, three counts of possession of stolen property, possession of explosive; transporation of a controlled substance, two counts of Special Allegation- Offense while on bail or O.R.; grand theft, special allegation-Offense while on bail or O.R., possession of stolen property, special allegation-offense while on bail or O.R. Coleman had stolen copper wire from a business and sold it to a recycling com- pany for a profit. Officers contacted Coleman at his home and located sever- al items that were confirmed stolen as well as sticks of dynamite. Coleman was a passenger in a vehicle that was stopped for a minor traffic violation. The officer received consent to search and located methamphetamine in Coleman's pocket. During the course of a theft investigation officers determined Coleman had stolen numerous items from the victims resi- dence. Upon contacting Coleman at his residence officers located the Coleman's truck which contained the items that had been reported stolen. • Louis William Buelna was sen- tenced to five years and four months in state prison for second degree burglary, corporal injury to spouse, grand theft from person. possession of a controlled substance. Buelna arrived at victim's residence and an argument ensued. Buelna ended up grabbing a cell phone from the vic- tim's hand and pushing her to the floor. Buelna then fled the residence. Buelna was originally granted formal probation. Buelna violated his probation when he failed to complete his community ser- vice and drug and alcohol treatment pro- gram. Buelna also violated his probation based upon his arrest in NCR82180. • Randy Perry Hennings was sen- tenced to two years in state prison for cultivating marijuana, possession of a firearm by a felon, possession of ammu- nition, exhibiting a firearm. Agents conducted a probation search at Hennings' residence and located sev- eral marijuana plants growing on the property. Hennings was originally grant- ed formal probation. He violated his pro- bation based upon his arrest in NCR82651. • Jonathan Paul Castro was sentenced to two years in state prison for attempted first degree robbery, Automated Teller Machine. Castro was originally granted formal probation. He violated his probation when he failed to keep in contact with probation, failed to pay fines/fees and tested positive for methamphetamine. • Jeffrey Scott Guinn, Jr., was sen- tenced to 16 months in state prison for possession of ammunition and 18 months in state prison for failure to appear on own recognizance. (NCR72635) Guinn was originally granted formal probation. He violated his probation when he was arrested for driving while under the influence of alcohol. (NCR81895)-Guinn was released from custody on his own recog- NEW YORK (AP) — Ah, the warm feelings of the holidays: Comfort and joy. Good cheer. And buyer's remorse. People who rushed to snag discounts on TVs, toys and other gifts are quickly returning them for much-needed cash. The shopping season started out strong for stores, but it looks like the spending binge has given way to a holiday hangover. Return rates spiked when the Great Recession struck and have stayed high. For every dollar stores take in this holiday season, they'll have to give back 9.9 cents in returns, up from 9.8 last year, according to the National Retail Federation's survey of 110 retailers. In better economic times, it's about 7 cents. This time of year, frac- tions of a penny add up. Stores are expected to ring up $453 billion during the holiday season. Merchants make up to 40 percent of their annual sales in the last two months of the year. Returns are typically associated more with Janu- ary than December. After all, that hot pink sweater with yellow stars on the sleeves may not be exactly what your sister had in mind. But these days, more is going back before it ever gets to Santa's sack. ''When the bills come nizance and failed to appear in court as ordered. Recent County Jail Commitments • Jacob Dylan Cozine was sentenced to 797 days in Tehama County Jail for first degree residential burglary. Cozine was originally granted formal probation. He violated his probation when he was arrested for stealing items from a business. Cozine was also found in possession of a switchblade knife. • Angela Renee Dennis, was sen- tenced to 90 days in Tehama County Jail for second degree commercial burglary. Dennis was observed by store securi- ty attempting to leave a business without paying for the items she had taken. • Kayla Lee Bailey aka: Kayla Lee Peters was sentenced to 20 days in Tehama County Jail for aid by misrepre- sentation–Over $400. Bailey was receiving cash aid and food stamps based upon her claim that her child was living with her. An investi- gation into the incident revealed the child was not living with Bailey at the time she was receiving aid. Recent Proposition 36 Commit- ments Note: All cases wherein a defendant is sentenced per the terms of Proposition 36 are not at the request of the Tehama County District Attorney's Office. Per the requirements of Proposition 36, a defendant who possesses drugs cannot be sentenced to confinement time in jail or prison. Instead, the court must place defendant on probation and require drug treatment alone. Per the requirements of Proposition 36, only upon a third drug related probation violation may the court impose confinement time. In the event the defendant violates a non-drug related term of probation the court may then elect to sentence defendant to jail or prison. The Tehama County District Attor- ney's Office contends that each criminal case is unique and that in certain, specif- ic, cases a defendant should be sen- tenced to a combination of drug treat- ment and jail time. We further contend that in other specific cases where a defendant has an extensive criminal record and/or a history of non-compli- ance with either previous grants of pro- bation or previous grants of drug treat- ment, a state prison sentence should properly be imposed. • Kenneth Franklin Smith was sen- tenced to Prop. 36 probation for posses- sion of a controlled substance, special allegation-prior felony. Smith was contacted by officers and found in possession of methampheta- mine. • Geoffrey Brian Pomeroy was sen- tenced to Prop. 36 probation for second degree commercial burglary; possession of a controlled substance. (NCR82903)-Pomeroy was walking through the city park in the early morning hours and was contacted by an officer. The officer was advised Pomeroy was on parole and conducted a search. Inside Pomeroy's pocket the officer located a baggie of metham- phetamine. (NCR80566)- Pomeroy was originally sent to prison for a vio- lation of probation. Pomeroy was released from prison on post release community supervision and failed to contact the probation department after his release. Take that back! Returns are big for the holidays in and the money isn't there, you have to return,'' says Jennifer Kersten, 33, of Miami. She spent $300 the day after Thanksgiving on books, movies and clothes for her nephews. Last week she returned half of it. Some reasons for the many unhappy returns: — Shoppers are binging on big discounts. Stores are desperate to get people in the door. But the same shoppers who find a ''60 percent off'' tag too good to resist may realize at home that they busted the budget. — Stores have made it easier to take things back. Nordstrom is letting online shoppers return items at no extra charge this year. It used to charge $6. Other stores are offering more time to return or rolling out ''no questions asked'' poli- cies — no tag or receipt required. But that can backfire. ''Spurring more returns wasn't part of the plan,'' says Al Sambar, a retail strategist for consulting firm Kurt Salmon. — Stores are undercut- ting each other in a tough economy. Wanda Vazquez spent $39.99 at a New York Target on iPad speak- ers for her 12-year-old daughter, then returned them when she found something similar for $16.99 at Marshalls. Consumer electronics in particular are being returned at a rapid clip. Stores and manufacturers are expected to spend $17 billion re-boxing, repair- ing, restocking and reselling electronics this year, up 21 percent from four years ago. At about half of the 100 electronics manufacturers and stores surveyed by Accenture, a consulting firm, return rates have increased over the past three to five years. Most of the items are returned without flaws. In an industry where profit margins are thin and competition is brutal, those return rates are unsustain- able, says Mitch Cline, managing director of Accenture's electronics and high-tech group. Several retailers declined to talk about returns. But if they need any evidence of growing remorse among their shop- pers, all they have to do is look at the overstuffed aisles of liquidator ware- houses. Liquidation.com, which buys returned merchandise from big stores like Wal- Mart and auctions it to small businesses and dollar stores, says return rates are 12 percent to 15 percent, two percentage points higher than last year and double the rate in better times.